Duel on the Eighteenth Level
History Background information Emily Watson had been attempting for a while to track down and capture Summer Petersen in order to turn the girl to the cause of the Girl-Team, believing Summer was much more powerful than she knew. To this end, Emily rigged an art party that was supposed to happen at Tower Placement. She then concocted a plan to lure Summer to her and destroy the Boy-Team. She hoped that the suffering of Summer’s allies would bring her to Tower Placement to aid them. They captured almost all the boys in the school and put Steven Thompson into a coma pit. Now they planned to reset it for Summer. They knew she would come after Steven, but how she would find out they did not know. As it happened, Summer called Steven and told him she’d decided to come (she had originally not wanted to attend). When she got no answer, she realized Steven was in trouble, and took off to Tower Placement in her modified car. Summer approached the school, unaware that the Girl-Team forces occupying the school had been tracking her progress since arriving at Tower Placement. She landed her craft without incident, and proceeded cautiously into the hallways. As she began to search for her friends, she encountered Ursula Blackham and a group of girls who were transporting Steven’s slumbering body away. Summer, hoping not to reveal her presence, quietly stalked the group for a short time until they disappeared from sight. As Summer prepared to continue through the school, Ursula suddenly reappeared and opened fire on Summer, who deflected the blasts with her lightsaber. After firing a few deterring blaster bolts, Ursula disengaged from her target. Summer, knowing they had Steven, immediately went after them. However, the robots flanking Ursula began shooting at Summer, who again took cover. When the robots broke off the fight, Summer attempted to follow them once again. Just as she passed through the door where Ursula had disappeared, it slammed shut behind her. Making her way through the catwalks and elevators of the eighteenth floor, she eventually reached the darkened Sleeping Chamber. Suddenly, the chamber became illuminated, revealing Helen McKeen, standing atop a flight of steps to the walkway above. Helen taunted Summer, claiming that, while she was strong, she had not mastered anything yet. Striding up to the villainess, Summer ignited her lightsaber. Helen responded by calmly activating her own weapon, and the battle began. The duel Summer attacked first, initiating two brief, unsuccessful strikes at Helen’s torso before regrouping. She then attempted to use an overhand power attack to overwhelm Helen, but the General blocked the attack, maintaining a one-handed grip on her weapon. Summer’s attack resulted in a blade-lock which Helen broke by casually throwing Summer to the floor, but Summer quickly recovered and advanced. Summer then engaged in an aggressive series of attacks and managed to drive Helen back, surprising the villain. However, Helen soon counter-attacked, forcing Summer back to the head of the stairs. During a subsequent lull in the fight, Helen complimented Summer on her increased dueling proficiency, an assessment which Summer arrogantly agreed with. Before she had even finished speaking, Summer struck at Helen again, but Helen deprived her of her lightsaber with a quick flourish. Helen then lazily slashed at Summer, hoping to herd her towards the coma pit on the floor below. Summer dove out of the way of the attack and rolled down the stairs to the chamber’s main platform. Helen leaped after her, backing Summer up to the edge of the coma pit. As the pit was closed and Summer’s attention was focused on her opponent, the young warrior did not perceive Helen’s trap. Helen claimed that Summer’s destiny lay with her own gender, and that Steven had deceived her. As Summer denied this, Helen, blade extended in front of her, continued to force Summer towards the now-open coma pit and Summer, not realizing that the pit was behind her, continued to retreat. As such, when Helen performed another casual swing of his weapon, Summer backed right over the lip of the coma pit and fell into it. As Helen activated the chamber, he failed to notice that Summer had leaped upwards before the slumber process could begin, and was clinging to the melatonin pipes above the pit. Helen approached the pit, disappointedly musing about how easily Summer had been defeated, when she suddenly heard a metallic crash from above and noticed Summer trying to climb up the pipes and hoses above the pit. Complimenting Summer’s agility, Helen bisected one of the hoses with her weapon in an attempt to dislodge her target. This action triggered warning alarms that started blaring throughout the chamber. Summer then jumped down and threw a white blanket in Helen’s face. With the General momentarily stunned, Summer recovered her lightsaber and slashed at Helen, only for the villain to block her blow. As the pair’s blades locked, Helen taunted Summer, complimenting her on her ability to control her emotions, but advising her that releasing them was the only path to victory. Helen promptly broke the blade-lock and attacked but Summer managed to fend him off, leaping over an attack at her legs and flipping above Helen. Landing behind the villain, Summer unleashed her own offense. However, Helen quickly seized the advantage, quickly driving Helen back towards the edge of the platform before kicking the General in the abdomen. Unable to effectively counter against this assault, Summer lost her balance on the edge of the platform and toppled off the side. Appearing to have gained the advantage, Helen jumped down and followed, searching for Summer. Meanwhile, Summer fell onto an elevator coming up in the elevator shaft and quickly broke off into the twenty-first level. Summer advanced down the Core Tunnel and into the facility’s processing vane, where Helen reemerged from the shadows. The antagonist calmly raised her lightsaber, and stood her ground, as Summer haltingly advanced. As Summer and Helen faced off, Helen sensed Summer was holding back, lest she give into anger. Seeking to exploit this, Helen ramped up her attack. Yet as the fight continued, Helen was tiring, while Summer seemed fresher than ever. Suddenly, Summer cut a ring under Helen, causing her to fall down through it and past the structure holding up the building. Ready to find Steven, Summer casually deactivated her blade. Aftermath Meanwhile, Emily Watson retrieved Steven Thompson’s cart from the robots and hauled it upstairs toward the school furnace. After opening the furnace door, Emily threw the bed down a slide. However, it landed on Summer’s fighter. Summer’s skyfighter rose from the flames, with the cart hooked to a thick tow cable. After taunting Emily, she dove into a tunnel with Emily in pursuit via speeder bike. Summer raced through the tunnel. Emily opened fire on Summer, who maneuvered all the bolts. Finally, Emily activated the speeder’s rockets, allowing Summer to maneuver her away and through a vent. Emily landed in a swimming pool. Meanwhile, Helen climbed out of the hole Summer had cut underneath her. Seeing Summer escaping with Steven, she ordered three robotic fighters to go after her. After a brief dogfight, the chase led into a forest. Maneuvering around the trees, Summer forced two fighters to crash. Summer flew into a cave, the third fighter close behind. Finally, it crashed into a stalactite. Relieved at her victory, Summer then landed a few meters away from the crash. Then she turned on her headlights and climbed out of her fighter. She thought it would be a good place to hide, and to think about what to do for Steven. Meanwhile, Emily sent out a few bombers to find Summer. Although they discovered the cave that was part of the forest, they passed it by. Finally, Summer flew back to the school, with Steven’s sleeping form squeezed in next to her to avoid him being discovered. Luckily, none of the girls were there. Summer found a key that Helen had dropped and used it to unlock the classroom doors that held all the boys. With all the boys safe, Summer flew home with Steven and placed him on her bed. Then she went to get some ice. Once she returned, she stuck the ice behind Steven’s back, somehow waking him. Summer explained everything that happened that night. Steven realized that Tower Placement was no longer safe due to the ongoing School War. Appearances * * Category:Battles of the School War